<p>The United Arab Emirates named the next two astronauts in its space programme Saturday, including the country's first female astronaut.</p>.<p>Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, the ruler of Dubai who also serves as the autocratically ruled country's prime minister and vice president, named the two astronauts on Twitter.</p>.<p>He identified Noura al-Matroushi as the UAE's first female astronaut. The announcement gave no biographical information about her or her male counterpart, Mohammed al-Mulla.</p>.<p><strong>Read more: <a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/national/four-indian-cosmonauts-complete-training-in-russia-for-gaganyaan-mission-965443.html" target="_blank">Four Indian cosmonauts complete training in Russia for Gaganyaan mission </a></strong></p>.<p>The two had been selected among more than 4,000 applicants in the UAE, a federation of seven sheikhdoms on the Arabian Peninsula that's also home to Abu Dhabi.</p>.<p>The two will undergo training at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas.</p>.<p>In 2019, Maj. Hazzaa al-Mansoori became the UAE's first astronaut in space, spending an eight-day mission aboard the International Space Station.</p>.<p>The Emirates has had other recent successes in its space program. This February, the UAE put its Amal, or Hope, satellite in orbit around Mars, a first for the Arab world. In 2024, the country hopes to put an unmanned spacecraft on the moon.</p>.<p>The UAE also has set the ambitious goal of building a human colony on Mars by 2117.</p>
<p>The United Arab Emirates named the next two astronauts in its space programme Saturday, including the country's first female astronaut.</p>.<p>Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, the ruler of Dubai who also serves as the autocratically ruled country's prime minister and vice president, named the two astronauts on Twitter.</p>.<p>He identified Noura al-Matroushi as the UAE's first female astronaut. The announcement gave no biographical information about her or her male counterpart, Mohammed al-Mulla.</p>.<p><strong>Read more: <a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/national/four-indian-cosmonauts-complete-training-in-russia-for-gaganyaan-mission-965443.html" target="_blank">Four Indian cosmonauts complete training in Russia for Gaganyaan mission </a></strong></p>.<p>The two had been selected among more than 4,000 applicants in the UAE, a federation of seven sheikhdoms on the Arabian Peninsula that's also home to Abu Dhabi.</p>.<p>The two will undergo training at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas.</p>.<p>In 2019, Maj. Hazzaa al-Mansoori became the UAE's first astronaut in space, spending an eight-day mission aboard the International Space Station.</p>.<p>The Emirates has had other recent successes in its space program. This February, the UAE put its Amal, or Hope, satellite in orbit around Mars, a first for the Arab world. In 2024, the country hopes to put an unmanned spacecraft on the moon.</p>.<p>The UAE also has set the ambitious goal of building a human colony on Mars by 2117.</p>